


Bound to Mimic

by Meda Princess (TheEvilAuthoress)



Series: Welcome to the Insanity [1]
Category: Flight Rising, Shaman King (Anime & Manga), Voltron: Legendary Defender, 刀剣乱舞-花丸- | Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru (Anime)
Genre: Gen, Mind Control, References to Canon, but they're all dragons, lair lore, shameless self indulgence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:47:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28355679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEvilAuthoress/pseuds/Meda%20Princess
Summary: NotN 2018 Dragon Share story prompt. Yoh, Kashuu, and Lance have to save the lair.(Knowledge of all fandoms not strictly necessary.)
Series: Welcome to the Insanity [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2076597





	Bound to Mimic

**Author's Note:**

> I recommend reading [the prompt](http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/drs/2595047#post_2595047) before continuing. Tis not my intellectual property and therefore I did not include it.

[](https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/30019945) [](https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/28138876) [](https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/47281524)

“If you don’t, you’ll be dead.” 

Years of practice prevent Yoh from grimacing at the grim proclamation as the Nocturne called Shadowsong disappears into a cloud of night and stars. Kashuu hasn’t yet perfect his poker face and Lance doesn’t try. Glancing down at Shingetsu sleeping soundlessly, Yoh breathes deeply and squares his shoulders.

“Let’s get started.”

Lance whimpers.

“Get up,” Kashuu huffs, dragging the Skydancer up by a forepaw. Lance lets him but groans all the way.

“You heard what she said! If we fail we’re dead!”

“And if we don’t even try, everyone else will be dead!” Kashuu snaps.

“Sounds like Tuesday.”

Years of practice also prevent Yoh from flinching when both his companions snap around to glare at him with squawks of indignation. He smiles instead. “Come on, guys. We’ve all-” He hesitates to say ‘been through worse’ when they barely know what they’re up against. “-been in sticky situations before, and we’ve managed to make it through.”

“With scars and buckets of PTSD!” Lance waves his foreclaws.

Well, Yoh can’t really argue that. “The longer we spend arguing, the longer our friends are in danger. You wouldn’t want to leave Allura in danger.”

Lance freezes, spine rigid, and turns resolutely back toward the lair. “Well, gents, today we march onward to greet death!”

Yoh’s smile becomes a touch more genuine as he watches Lance march through the trees back to the shoreline. Kashuu stares after the Skydancer, crest feathers twitching; they lie flat as he turns to Yoh.

“It’s creepy how you can do that.”

Yoh merely shrugs.

* * *

Yoh has a good poker face but, honestly, he’s terrified. 100% absolutely batshit terrified, as Meda would say. This land is still new to them, they are still learning its customs and dangers, and now _this_. Many of his friends are old with deep and powerful roots in the places they come from, and this...invasion has left only himself and two of their newer members standing.

It could be worse.

That grim reality keeps his head high and his feet steady.

They only have four Nocturne dragons currently residing in their lair and one is asleep in the forest behind them, so that narrows down the suspects at least. Yoh doesn’t want to believe Lyserg responsible for this mess, but given that whole situation with the X-Laws and the fiasco with a chameleon ghost, it’s not out of the realm of probability.

Lance is a nervous talker, which is fine, Yoh is used to tuning out Len and Trey’s constant bickering back home. He doesn’t even care that Lance babbles on about the horrors they could find back at the lair because each scenario becomes more outlandish than the last.

Then Lance starts signing.

“WILL YOU SHUT UP!”

Ah. Yup. This feels like home.

The Currents are disturbingly deserted even for this time of night; there’s always a few night owls swimming about. Yoh wishes the other Clans the best of luck; they don’t have the manpower to help.

“Guys.” He breaks into an argument quickly devolving into an incomprehensible jumble of Spanish and Japanese and easily weathers the twin squawks of indignation before his companions focus on the cavern ahead.

“Oh.” Kashuu’s crest feathers flatten.

Lance’s tail twitches nervously. “So how are we gonna do this?”

Yoh neatly coils his long body beneath him. “We should start with the hoard.” Mai collects shiny things by the dozens and even Kaoru has been known to pocket strange or interesting items beyond his better judgment. The only Nocturne Yoh can see not being accidentally responsible for this mess is Hiruko. Unless he was out in the daylight too long again.

Damnit.

“And what if it’s in somebody’s nest?!”

“Then we only have three to check.” Unwinding, Yoh swims for the cavern. “Shadowsong said the Nocturnes won’t be able to see us so we should be able to avoid another incident.”

Lances shudders and rubs his neck. “Quiznack! The portal!”

Yoh falters as he surfaces into the cavern’s air pocket.

“Meda told Yusei to shut it down.” Kashuu shakes out his feathers, and Yoh nimbly dodges the rain of water droplets.

“But we should check if it actually was!” Lance flaps his wings frantically. “What if that- that mimic thing got through to back home?”

Kashuu’s feathers droop. Stopping a hysterical laugh before it starts, Yoh takes another deep breath. “Do either of you know how to operate it?”

“Yeaaaaa- no.”

Kashuu huffs but his quivering feathers give him away. “It’s not that different from the time device at the Citadel.”

Yoh nods. “Okay. You go check on it while Lance and I look for the mimic.”

“Eh? I thought I was gonna go look for Allura!”

The sound Kashuu makes is one part fear and three parts exasperation as he darts further into the cavern.

“Finding the mimic is the fastest way to ensure Allura and everyone else is safe,” Yoh says calmly and hopes to whichever god is listening that the logic will stick.

“But I could take them someplace safe--”

“You heard Shadowsong. Nowhere is safe right now. And going home isn’t an option because we’d have to make this side of the portal inaccessible and that takes time that we don’t have.”

They stare at each other. Yoh waits. Lance caves.

“Alright, let’s go find the quiznacking mimic.”

* * *

[](https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/45242952)Getting to the portal room is disturbingly uneventful when it is literally all the way in the very back of the lair. But he got here and it’s thankfully deactivated and-

“Yusei!”

The Imperial’s eyes flutter as he struggles to lift his head.

“Easy, I’m friendly, I’m friendly. You, uh, probably shouldn’t move too much.” Kashuu gently waves his foreclaws as he eyes the gashes in the Imperial’s dark hide.

“Kas’uu? You’re okay?”

“Peachy.” Kashuu grimances, trying to remember where they keep the first aid kit. “You look like you’re having a bad day.”

A weak noise that could have either been a chuckle or grunt. Hard to say. Aha! There it is! “Mai tried to get through the portal.”

“Mai?!” Spinning around, Kashuu nearly drops the first aid kit. Well, she is a Nocturne.

“It was weird tho. She wasn’t acting like herself.”

Oh. Oh! “Hey, uh, will you be okay for a little bit longer?” Kashuu asks, gently setting the kit down next to Yusei.

“I’m not dead yet,” Yusei says, which really isn’t the best answer, but Kashuu should probably go tell Yoh about this like _now_.

“Okay. I’ll be right back,” Kashuu promises and bolts out the door.

* * *

Lance’s tail twitches as he walks, peering down every hallway for signs of his denmates or vicious...monster...things. What even are mimics? That starry night Nocturne said the one that infiltrated their lair would have looked like an object of value, but what does that mean? A coin? An antique vase? A painting? And what do mimics look like when they aren’t...mimicking?

“I’m more concerned about where everyone is and how injured they might be.” Lance freezes as Yoh breaks into his spiraling thoughts. “You were thinking out loud,” the Spiral says without looking back, pokes his head around another corner, and darts across the intersection. Lance quickly follows.

“Oh, yeah. Of course.”

Something moves in the hallway ahead of them, and Lance slams on the breaks again. A sleek white and orange Nocturne glares down the hall. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod!

A hasty retreat jerks to a halt as Yoh quite literally wraps himself around Lance and clamps a paw over his snout to silence a scream before it can start.

“ _Lance_. Breathe. He can’t see us.”

Right, breathe, Lance can do that. Totally. He might be hyperventilating, just a tiny bit, but he stands rigid and trembling in Yoh’s grasp as Kaoru triple checks the hallways and stalks past. A beat passes. Then Yoh slowly unwinds and Lance slumps to the floor.

“Uh, sorry about that.”

“No, we’re cool. Should, uh...should we follow him?”

Yoh creeps forward to peer down the hall Kaoru disappeared. “He’s not carrying anything.”

“You think maybe he’s headed to others?” Lance rouses himself with a shake of his feathers.

Yoh taps his claws on the corner. It will be easier to deal with the mimic if they have help, but dealing with the mimic will free everyone. It’s a head spinning circle.

“It’s only one mimic, right?”

“That’s what Shadowsong made it sound like.”

“How strong do you think one of those things could be?”

A glow creeps into Yoh’s dark eyes as he faces Lance again, and Lance’s feathers stand on end as his skin prickles. A weak laugh. A serene smile.

“Nothing I can’t handle if I really want to.”

“Right.” Swallowing thickly, Lance follows Yoh to the hoard and prays they don’t total the lair or break reality in the next hour.

* * *

[ ](https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/47797938)

Yoh can feel the invasive magic crackling off his scales as they reach the hoard. A soft voice floats from within, gleefully counting and crooning with each _clink_. Lance wets his beak, shifting from paw to paw. Cautiously, they both peer in.

A gleaming purple Nocturne with golden wings lounges atop a pile of gold, one forepaw looper over a colorfully gilded treasure chest while the other paws through the gold pieces and shiny baubles spilling out of it. Lance’s breath stutters. Two glowing eyes peer out from beneath the lid as a dark miasma spills out of the box alongside the treasures.

How best to approach this?

“Yoh! It’s Mai! Mai is the- Oh.”

Kashuu skids to a stop in front of the hoard like a deer in headlight lights as Mai leaps up and bares her fangs at the trio. “What are you doing here?!”

“Leaving!” Kashuu announces, skittering backward only to bump up against Yoh’s back with a squeak.

“I don’t wanna know,” Lance whines, right before the three are sent tumbling into the hoard by a shockwave. Yoh grunts as his back paws are lost between his companions and someone elbows him in the gut. That was definitely one of Lyserg’s forcefields.

“I thought they couldn’t see us!”

“Maybe it wore off?”

“This is my treasure!” Mai roars. “You can’t have it!”

Wiggling free, Yoh darts out from between the angry Nocturnes. Lance and Kashuu barely scramble to the side before another wall of magic slams down on them. “Mai, that thing isn’t a treasure chest!”

“Oh, sure, because logic totally works on the brainwashed!” Lance screams from the other side of the room.

Depends on how brainwashed they are. Yoh ducks as Mai lunges claws first, an eerie light in her eyes. Pretty brainwashed. Oh! The box!

Diving for the unguarded mimic, You reels back when something sharp strikes him across the scales. What-

Mai roars and Yoh barely has time to roll out of the way, wincing as his side pinches and pulls.

“It has a sword! It has a quiznacking sword!”

“Oh, shut up and stay out of the way!”

Yoh blinks. The miasma spilling out of the box has shaped itself into an arm and now wields a sword as Kushuu descends into the fray with his own uchigatana. Blood wells from the shallow cut beneath Yoh’s forepaw.

Well.

“Don’t hurt Mai!”

“Excuse me! You didn’t see what she did to Yusei!” Kashuu snaps. “No promises!”

And that’s one confirmed injured. Hopefully no fatalities. Meda will throw a fit, and break more than reality to fix it. Yoh shudders.

[ ](https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/45038439)

“Yoh! Watch-”

The air rushes out of his lungs as he’s slammed against the wall hard enough to make his ears ring. The pressure doesn’t let up. His ribs creak and he claws at the invisible wall and pushes back. A familiar power surges through his chest and down his claws and the barrier breaks. Lyserg stares him down, claws already glowing with the beginnings of another barrier.

Yoh stares back. “I don’t wanna hurt you, Lyserg.”

Lyserg has a ridiculously strong will, and this isn’t his first tango with possession, so Yoh has no doubt he is aware of the situation. He’s also not surprised when the Nocturne opens his mouth enough to rasp, “Do it.”

Yoh crashes straight through the next barrier and aims for the side of Lyserg’s head. The Nocturne crumples. He’ll have one hell of a headache when he wakes up, but hopefully nothing Kurama or Jaden can’t fix.

Okay. Now Mai.

Lance and Kashuu are holding their own pretty well, Lance laying down cover fire to keep Mai away from the box while Kashuu spars with it. Unfortunately, although several of the Coatl’s blows connect, none of them make a dent and Kashuu reels back with a deeper grimace every time.

_He’s going to break._

“Kashuu-”

Lance chances a shot at the box, and Mai charges into the opening with a shriek. Yoh lunges. Lance fires. Pain rips through his left flank.

“Yoh!!”

Someone drags him off Mai before she can tear too many furrows into his hide.

“Shit! Shit! I’m so sorry!”

Mai perches on the box like a trophy, giggly madly just like Shingetsu had before. Warmth and power and a sense of other well up inside Yoh.

_Hey, Chris._

She feels sluggish and half awake. Yoh’s concentration frays under the pain of the wound. They’ve got one shot.

“Need you two to get her off the box for me,” Yoh mumbles, struggling to sit up. Lance and Kashuu share a terrified glance and nod. Kashuu sheathes his cracked blade. Yoh closes his eyes and waits.

“ _Get off me get off it’s mine_!!”

“This is for your own good!”

When he opens his eyes again, he lets the glowing warmth fly from his claws directly at the mimic.

“NOOO!” Mai screams as the room is bathed in a warm golden glow. The mimic screeches and hisses as it evaporates, leaving nothing but a charred pile of glop behind. Mai slumps.

“Quiznack! Is she breathing?”

Kashuu grunts. “How am I supposed to- Fuck! Yusei!” The Coatl bolts out the door and Lance stumbles under Mai’s weight.

“What the hell, man?!”

Everything else will have to be someone else’s problem because Yoh promptly passes out.

* * *

“I was gone for two hours.” Zeke stares incredulously at the room full of moderately to severely injured dragons.

Yoh lies passed out across Meda and Meda looks halfway to passed out herself. Kurama cleans and wraps minor injuries while Jaden deals with the more severe ones like Yoh’s side, Yusei’s gashes, and Lyserg’s concision. Everyone awake is still groggy from getting hit with Hiruko’s sleep magic. Lance hasn’t stopped pacing.

Kashuu huffs and tries not to wince as Yasusada’s claws work over his cracked blade. It’s not even that bad but Yasusada keeps grumbling about ‘reckless idiots’ - hi, pot; I’m kettle - and ‘swinging your sword like a bat’. Honestly, it’s not Kashuu's fault Coatl forepaws weren’t designed for the elegance of swordsmanship. And Yasusada’s no better! He hasn’t even been here as long. So maybe Kashuu shouldn’t be bringing his blade into real battles just yet; it had been an emergency situation!

(It really is that bad, but Kashuu will lie to himself as long as he has to in order to ignore how close he’d come to breaking again.)

“I feel like we’re forgetting something,” Lance announces and finally stops pacing to glance around the room.

Meda rouses herself enough to do the same and frowns. “Where’s Shingetsu?”

Kashuu freezes. Lance jerks.

“Quiznack!”

(“‘s it always like this?” Gon blinks sleepily from Killua’s shoulder.

“Welcome to the insanity.”)


End file.
